'The Walking Dead' just revamped a minor group from the comics

Warning: There are spoilers ahead from "The Walking Dead" and the comic series.

After introducing a new, mysterious group on the mid-season premiere, "The Walking Dead" wasted little time in keeping fans in the dark as to who they may be.

Although they weren't mentioned by name, actress Pollyanna McIntosh, who plays the group's leader on the show, confirmed on "The Walking Dead" aftershow "Talking Dead" the group is called the Scavengers. On set, to avoid spoilers, they referred to the group as the Heapsters.

Comic readers probably had an inkling that the large group — who is strategically living out in a junkyard — may have been a revamped version of the Scavengers from Robert Kirkman's series.

Who are the Scavengers?

Just like their name implies, the Scavengers in the comics are a ruthless group who raids, pillages, and ransacks whatever they can from other survivors. Jadis, the leader of the group on the TV series who introduced themselves to Rick and his crew, said her crew takes what they want.

AMC

"We take. We don't bother," appears to be the group's motto.

They had been waiting a long time for someone to ransack that boat that Rick and Aaron retrieved supplies from in December's mid-season finale.

"The boat things you took got taken," said Jadis to Rick and his crew who unveiled that it was them that took Gabriel in the mid-season premiere.

Rick and Aaron fell right into the group's trap.
Gene Page/AMC

Jadis then told Rick's group that they owned their lives and that if they wanted to be released they would have to give them something in return to "buy them back."

There's just one problem. Rick's people don't really have anything to give because they're currently giving most of their supplies and food to Negan and the Saviors. Gabriel offered a simple solution.

"If you join us, and we beat them together, you can have much of what's theirs," said Gabriel as he basically pled for their lives. "Fighting with us, you'll be rewarded, [with] more than you can imagine."

In the comic series, the Scavengers appear in four issues and only consist of six people — five men and one woman. Instead of a woman leader, the pack is led by a man named Derek. Heath and Glenn first run into them on the road while they're out looking for supplies. Interestingly, McIntosh told Chris Hardwick on "Talking Dead" that when she read for the role that the part was for either a man or woman.

Image Comics

After attracting them with their motorcycles, they lure the Scavengers back to Alexandria which ultimately results in a skirmish, which they easily lose.

What we do know about this group from the comics is that they're not afraid to sacrifice one of their own for the greater good. In issue #75 when they're introduced, they tossed one of their own to be eaten alive by a herd so they could find a chance to escape after being holed up in a building surrounded by walkers for a week.

Image Comics

For a time, it was thought that the Wolves, a menacing group of survivors with the letter W scrawled into their foreheads, were a substitute for the Scavengers on the TV series. They entered the television series around the same time as the characters entered the comic series.

While the timing was right, the characters exhibited different traits from the pillaging Scavengers. They were more cult-like and savage.

One of the "W" men who had a change of heart before he was ultimately killed.AMC/YouTube

The introduction of this much larger scavenger group comes at a time when Rick — and the plotline — need a large, willing, and ultimately disposable army to fight their upcoming battle with Negan and his Saviors.

The Scavengers were just as disposable in the comics. Though there's a chance they'll wind up posing a larger threat to Rick and Alexandria in the future, it looks like they may ultimately serve the same role moving forward in the television series.